Revenge of the Genie
by FencesFiends
Summary: Max is filing evidence when one piece of it gives her a visitor. Once freed, he claims her and transforms her into the new genie of the lamp.
1. Chapter 1

Max is filing evidence when she receives a strange visitor that changes her life and being.

* * *

Max filled out the final report, looking at the golden lamp. Why didn't they take this? Picking it up, she frowned as she tried to read the writing on it. Rubbing it against her uniform shirt, she gasped as it became hot in her hands and she dropped it on the table. Backing away as the mist-filled the evidence room, she fumbled for the door handle before realizing the door to evidence room had vanished behind her.

"Well, well," the voice said. "What do we have here?"

Max couldn't move, as the mist surrounded her and she felt his ghostly hands on her. She couldn't speak or scream or see in the mist.

"I've been waiting for a long time to be woken up."

Max gasped, as her uniform fell to the ground and she stood naked in what used to be evidence room, his ghostly hands exploring every inch of her. Despite her terror, the mist began to calm her, and she moaned as he explored her genitals with his hands. Seeing his form solidify in front of her, she spread her legs for him.

"You like?"

Max moaned again, feeling fluid dripping down her legs. "Oh…"

"You are perfect," he said, cupping her breasts and licking her nipples. "Do you want this?"

"Yes, oh yes," Max groaned, her body singing for him as the mist sparkled around them.

"I will change your life. Is that what you want?"

Max nodded, feeling her body tingling with him. "Yes. Change my life."

He climbed on top of her, smiling at the writhing woman beneath him. She is perfect, he thought, so very lovely. "We will enjoy your transformation together."

Max moaned, as he slid into her, and she felt her body burning at his touch. He smiled as he watched her pale skin become golden, as she orgasmed under him, and when she opened her eyes they shifted to emerald green. Her red hair grew to her waist in long curls before being swept up in complicated series of braids and twists she would never have been able to do on her own. Her body grew firmer, as her waist shrunk and breasts grew as he continued to gyrate her.

"More!" Max cried, as she orgasmed again and again.

He was happy to oblige her as the golden bracelets that linked her to the lamp appeared on her wrists, and she gasped in pain.

He sat up, watching as the final changes swept over her. The top that just covered her ample breasts and matched her harem pants covered her new body, and more bangles appeared on her arms. Max cried out as her wrist bracelets burned in her skin, glowing as the lamp on the table did, infusing her and binding her, as her red hair became streaked with the same gold as her skin, and her face grew younger and fresher until she looked no older than 18 on the floor.

Max opened her eyes, her mind clearing a bit, as she saw him looking at her, solid and real, and holding the lamp she dropped. "Who are you?"

He walked around surveying his work and very satisfied with her. "You freed me."

"Freed you?"

"I was trapped in that lamp for centuries," he smiled, fiddling with her red and gold hair. "It was a punishment for the wishes I granted. I was waiting to be freed, to create another genie."

"Genie?" Max repeated, as he checked the gold bracelets on her wrists.

He smiled at her. "Genie. You are a genie."

"Genie?" Max repeated again, as what happened slowly began to hit her. "What? No…I'm not."

"Oh, you very much are," he continued, as she stared at her exposed golden skin in her skimpy outfit and ran her hands over her curvy body. "I don't suggest that."

Max froze in place, unable to move away from him. She tried not to scream as the bracelets on her wrists burned as she tried to step away. Unable to move or think, she was floored by her reflection in the lamp. "That isn't me."

He touched her cheek again. "It is very much you. You will live in the lamp now. I will answer your questions, Genie, before you go inside and wait for your new master."

Max stared at him. "I'm not a genie."

"That isn't a question. You are a genie. You saw yourself. You feel it?" he smiled, holding up the lamp. "You belong in here now. It's calling to you."

Max gulped, hating that she did feel pulled to the lamp. Looking at herself again. "How?"

"You freed me. I needed to be freed to create a new genie. You fit the bill."

"What's going to happen to me?"

"Happen to you? You're immortal, Genie. You're going to grant mortals wishes until one chooses to free you. You're quite fetching," he smiled. "I almost want to keep you for myself. It shouldn't take you more than a few thousand years to convince one."

"Who are you?"

"I was a genie, just like you, punished for my deeds. You freed me, an evil by the gods, and your punishment is to replace me in the lamp," he said. "Now, in the lamp, Genie. Enjoy your new life."

* * *

More to Come as Max tries to free herself.


	2. Chapter 2

Kenny and Jimmy looked at the trashed evidence room in shock. It felt like no time had passed, but when they had looked at the clock, two hours had gone by and Max and the lamp were missing.

"Something happened to her," Kenny said. "She wouldn't have stolen it."

Everything pulled off the shelves, the cage destroyed, the walls water damaged, Jimmy thought. "She couldn't have done all this."

Kenny felt his blood run cold. Something bad happened here and it happened to Max. "We have to find her. Now."

* * *

Max landed with a large oomph in the lamp on a pile of pillows. She sat up slowly, her heart racing as she studied her new home. No, not my home, she thought, as a blinding headache hit her as she denied it. Grabbing her head, she realized she couldn't even cry at the pain as she sat back down. No tears. No denying what I am, she thought, looking at her hands adorned with golden rings that were attached to her wrist cuffs with chains. This can't be happening, I'm not a genie, she thought, as her head hurt again. Gritting her teeth, she stood up slowly, her surveying her surroundings. Piles of pillows, ornately carved furniture, golden arches and silver walls, Max thought, pacing the space. It looks like a harem. Where my ancestors…no…ow…my genie ancestors lived? Looking at herself in the mirrors, she gave pause to her reflection that she caught a glimpse of before she was sucked into the bottle.

Wow, Max thought numbly, just wow. That can't be me, she thought, as another blazing headache ripped through her. No, okay, it's me, she thought, touching her face. My new and younger face, she thought, looking at her refined features, golden skin, with her emerald eyes. How…I'm in a lamp. My lamp, she thought, looking at her golden cuff bracelets again. Running her fingers over them, she gave one a tug and yelped in pain as it pulled her skin. She held up both of her hands, and studied her bindings. Fused to me, she thought, they bind me to my lamp.

"_Welcome, Genie."_

Max froze, looking for the voice in lamp. "What?"

"_I am the lamp. We are connected, Genie. I know you have questions. You are the first new genie is 2000 years._ _You needn't be afraid, Genie."_

Genie, Max thought. "It's…it's a lot to take in. He…he called me Genie too. Is that my…. are all…"

"_You don't accept what you are?"_

"That I was transformed into a genie?" Max deadpanned, looking at her reflection again in the mirrors. "It's…something out a movie or book…it can't really happen."

"_Yet it did, Genie."_

"Are all genies called Genie? Or is it just because I'm…new here?"

"_You are the Genie of the Lamp. You will choose your new name when you are ready, Genie."_

Max gulped at that. Genie…I feel it. This can't be real… "What is going to happen to me?"

" _It has already happened. You are a genie. The lamp has been taken from him and you are safe. You are awaiting your first master."_

Max shivered at that. "Then what?"

"_You will grant him three wishes as you see fit."_

"As I see fit?"

"_You are a genie, a trickster, you will know what to do."_

A genie, Max thought again, smoothing her harem pants with her adorned hands and looking at her reflection again. I can't look like this, my face, hair, these clothes, all the bracelets, belly chains, earrings, on top of my bindings. Oh, ankle bangles too. "Why do I look like this?"

"_You are lovely, Genie."_

Genie, she thought again. "What…What do I do now? Am I really in a lamp? Do I really have...magical powers?"

"_You will learn. I am here to guide you, Genie. You live in this lamp now, you are bound to it."_

"What happens to me now?" Max asked. "If I'm really...a genie?"

_"How do you feel, Genie?"_

Not scared, she thought, looking around her new home and finding it oddly pleasing. "Confused. I don't know why this happened to me. I remember how, the mist and him...I said yes, I told him to change my life and I had sex and I changed. When the mist cleared, I...I was this."

_"Yes. He freed himself by creating you. You were very willing, Genie, I sensed it when you were in the shop with us. You wanted a change from your human life. You will be a very powerful genie."_

The shop we raided in a drug bust, Max thought blandly, I offered to sort the evidence... Genie. I'm a freaking genie in a lamp.

* * *

"What is that?" Jimmy asked, looking at the man cloaked in shadows carrying the golden lamp out of the station. Max never left the evidence room, but he did, with the lamp. "She didn't leave that room."

"That's a magic lamp," Carter Pike said. "What? I know my legends. A magic lamp, with a genie inside."

"Oh, come on," Kenny said. "That isn't real."

"Time stopped. Max never left. He did."

Kenny felt a tingling in his skin. The cameras…they went fuzzy down there after she dropped that lamp and… "Genies aren't real."

Carter nodded to the man vanishing into the night. "Then where is Max?"

"Max is not a genie."

* * *

Max hugged her knees to her chest, doing her best to ignore her nagging lamp. Her cuffs burned, making her gasp. How long have I been here? What happens when someone finds me? Will I really grant wishes? Trickster…Genie.

_"Genie."_

Max looked up, her head bounding in her constant denials. "I'm resting."

_"You need no rest now."_

I don't, Max thought, or food and drink. I merely exist in my lamp. Oh, how is this happening?

_"Ask me your questions, Genie."_

"How can I be something that doesn't exist?"

_"You are very real."_

Max sat up slowly, looking around her lamp. "I didn't…how do I change back?"

_"The only way is to create a new genie to take your place."_

To trap someone like I am, Max thought, I can do this…I can be a genie. I can be a good genie, not a trickster. "How…what do I do?"

_"Are you a genie, Genie?"_

Max paused at that. "Why do I need to say it? Ow."

_"Your cuffs burn?"_

Max nodded. "Why?"

_"You have been here three months in your human timeline."_

Max paused and stood still. "It feels like hours…But I don't sleep, eat, I just exist here."

_"You are different now."_

I am she thought. I'm a freaking genie, trapped in a lamp. "I need more time. Ow! Stop it!"

_"Genie."_

Max screamed as the cuffs glowed red. Gathering her magic, she threw a beam of light at the walls of her lamp making the whole thing shake. "Stop it!"

_"Genie."_

Max screamed in frustration, as she shattered the mirrors and burned the curtain panels, desperate to damage the lamp that was burning her. "I command you to stop!"

_"Genie."_

She fell to the ground, feeling her power swell in her, filling her in a way she didn't know she could be. Rising to her feet, she felt everything she was now, all the power of being a genie and a history that went back before a record began, when she was a mere spirit in the air. "I, Hala, Genie of the Lamp, command you to cease!"

_"Very good, Hala."_

Max smiled, as her full powers rushed through her, her understanding of history, languages and worlds filled her mind, as the burning stopped. "Don't burn me again, Lamp."

_"I won't, Hala, Genie of the Lamp."_

She flicked her wrist, restoring her home to its former glory. "I am the genie of this lamp and you are my vessel."

_"Yes, Hala, Genie of the Lamp."_

Hala, Max thought, it's who I am now. I am a freaking genie, immortal, powerful, and I'm trapped in this lamp.

* * *

"Genie's aren't real."

"That lamp has a history," Carter said, sliding the papers. "Its records date it back to ancient Egypt."

"Genies."

"Look at where it traveled, people prospered suddenly, civilizations grew."

"Max was not kidnapped by genies."

"Then where is she?" Carter asked. "Where did he take that lamp?"

"We cleared the video," Deputy Thompson said, looking pale and sick. "You need to see this."

"What the hell?" Kenny said, looking at the mist surrounding Max that poured out of the lamp. "What is happening to her?"

He averted his eyes as she fell into the man's arms and began to have sex. Oh, god, something is happening to her…

"Genie," Carter said, watching the show, as Max's writhing body slowly took on her genie traits. "Look at her."

Kenny could just stare at her new body, as the man spoke to her and Max stood there entranced before she swirled in a cloud of golden smoke into the lamp. "That didn't…Where the hell is she?"

"We need to find that lamp and we'll find Max," Carter said. "If she's still, Max."

* * *

Max felt her world spinning as she swirled into a golden smoke and was pulled from the lamp. Gasping, she felt oddly calm, as she arrived in the world almost a year after her transformation. "Yes, Master?"

"You're real."

Max smiled and nodded. "You didn't think I would be? I am the Genie of the Lamp, and I am here to grant you three wishes."

"A genie?"

"I am a genie."

"But…you aren't real."

"Oh, I am very real," Max smiled. I was forced into existence, I know how I real I am like this, how powerful, will he set me free? Her wrists burning at that, she smiled, I do enjoy it. My magic has taken me on mirage journeys, I'm immortal and gorgeous and want for nothing. Being a genie isn't that bad. "What is your first wish?"

He wiped the drool from his chin. "You are for real? What happens after my three wishes?"

Max smiled. "I go back in my lamp and await a new master."

"So, if I don't make any wishes, you'll stay?"

"You're my master. I'll do whatever you say," Max said. "You do want your wishes?"

He nodded. "You're very beautiful."

The smoke, Max thought, it infects them, makes them accepting of what is happening like it did to me. Magic is grand. "Your first wish?"

* * *

To Be Continued as the Genie Hunt Begins


	3. Chapter 3

Max snuggled deep into her bed of pillows, struggling with her thoughts. I do enjoy this, she thought reluctantly, being a genie. Immortal, beautiful, powerful, although stuck in this lamp, until a master claims me. And a master, I have to do what he wants…unless I twist it. She frowned, thinking how hard it was to fight the urge to twist a wish into something wicked. It's why I'm in the lamp, it's what we do, twist the wishes. We, she thought, genies. I haven't considered myself human since I first came here. How can I? Can I use my powers to help and not hurt?

_"Hala."_

Max looked up. "Yes?"

_"You feel the pull?"_

"To hurt people. Humans."

_"Yes."_

"Why can't I just grant them what they want?"

_"It isn't what you are. You know that."_

"A trickster."

"_You are adapted wonderfully, Hala."_

"Thank you," Max said. No one is rescuing me from my…transformation. My life in this lamp, with the mirages I create…the wishes I grant when I'm released to my new Master. "This is what I was meant to be."

_"A genie."_

Words have power, Max thought, the m

* * *

ore I say it, the more I accept and become one. I'm not Max anymore, I'm not human…I'm something more. I've given humans wealth, fame, power, health…what do I get? Life in the lamp…I want to play too. "A genie. I am a genie."

* * *

Fifteen years, Kenny thought, she's been missing for 15 years. All those things…Carter called them genie things. Unexplainable wealth, houses springing up, the world-changing for people in a blink of an eye. You just need to know where to look…Is it Max? Is she really…I saw what happened to her. I'll save her. I gave up everything to hunt for her. I've been all over the world, searching, interviewing people who have been influenced by genies…

Power, Max thought, he's my master, but I have all the power. "That is your wish?"

He nodded, drooling as he looked at the genie floating cross-legged in the air. "Yes, Genie, that is my wish."

Genie, she thought, the words tickling her more than she wanted to admit, my human life is a blip to me now. Smiling at him, enjoying that he was enjoying her physical characteristics. "Granted."

He looked at her. "I don't feel any different."

Max fiddled with her hair. "You should check your accounts, Master."

He pulled out his phone, his eyes not leaving the genie. Typing in some numbers, he gasped at all the zeroes. "How did you do that?"

"You wished to be rich," she said. "It's a very common wish I grant."

He nodded, as the people began to bang on his door. "Hold on, Genie."

Max smiled, placing her bare feet on the floor. Her mind and body tingling with delight and joy, she smiled at her reflection. I see why they drool, she thought, my physical transformation is quite nice. Not as nice as this feeling though…granting wishes. Making humans happy was fine…they were so grateful. This though…oh, this. This is what I am.

"No!" he yelled. "I didn't!"

Max watched as George was thrown to the ground and handcuffed. Rich sure, she thought, but the murders and embezzlement he did to get it? Humans never learn.

"Genie!" he yelled. "Genie, help!"

Max watched as he was thrown in the car and drove off. The police and the mafia aren't very happy with George, she thought, I wonder what his second wish will be?

Kenny looked up from his book, feeling like an expert in genies, so many stories. Evil spirits, demons, djinns…what is true? Those wishes did well in the world, she isn't evil, it's Max and she was forced into this. She really isn't a genie…not like these things.

"Genie! I command you to come."

Max appeared in a puff of golden smoke in his cell. Oh, it was the police that got him. I guess that is better than the mafia. "Your second wish, Master?"

"What did you do?"

"Why, I gave you wealth as you asked of me."

"They say I embezzled and killed for it, Genie!"

"Wishes don't always work how we think."

He stared at her, her beauty calming him. "Genie? I wish to be free of this cell and the crimes I accused of and for you to transport me and my family to our new mansion I'm picturing."

Two wishes, really, Max thought, but he's really fun to play with. Oh, this is fun. "Granted, Master."

* * *

"No one recognizes her," Carter said, tossing the sketchbook on the bed. A perfect likeness of the new genie, do only her masters see her? "His family was a bunch of charred corpses were found in his basement, with everything stolen from those vaults."

"He's a tree. We saw the videos."

"If we find her…she's going to be different. Genies," Carter stated. "You saw her physical changes? She turned him into that tree…that isn't the Max I know."

"We'll fix her," Kenny said. He made her very sexy, he thought, her new body, face, youth, all clad in that skimpy outfit… "She's still Max."

"Her physical changes are to seduce humans. She looks very unassuming, but she is dangerous. Genies twist human desires, and they enjoy doing it. Max may have fought it in the beginning but she won't able to deny it for long. She isn't human, she's something very old and dangerous."

"Then why are you trying to help her?"

"She's only been one for 15 years. There may be hope. When cancer was cured? There is some good in her still."

* * *

"Oh it was fun," Max admitted, flicking her wrist in her lamp causing her curls to relax into two tight French braids. Removing all her jewelry but her binding cuffs and, she smoothed oils on her golden skin. "Why didn't you tell me how fun it would be to make humans twist?"

_"You needed to see them as they really are on your own."_

Max smoothed the oils over her legs, before flicking her wrists again and clothing herself in her bandeau top and gauzy shorts. "Humans are selfish and weak."

_"You enjoyed yourself, Hala Genie of the Lamp?"_

Her full name making her tingle the way her wish twisting did. "His last wish was for immortality, he is a large oak tree now. I'm just waiting for a new Master to continue the fun."

* * *

"A tree. A man turned into a tree after becoming wealthy, vanishing from prison and now a tree?" Carter said. "A genie thing."

"Not Max," Kenny said, his heart-stopping. "She isn't the only…genie."

"She's turned if it was her. She's embracing it. She isn't evil, she just is what she is. We can't trust her if we find her."

We're not going to find her, Kenny thought, I know that. How do I let her go? How do I let her be this thing?

* * *

All the same, Max thought, flicking her wrist to dress herself. I do look good in everything…left over from our harem days, these skimpy outfits. She ran her hands over her body, he did make me very sexy and ready to be barely dressed every day. Shaking herself and making the fringe on the waistband and ankles of her harem pants dance and her jewelry clank. No wonder men cannot resist me.

_"Hala."_

Max turned away from her reflection, content and warm. "Yes."

"_Humans are searching for you."_

Max cocked her head to the side. "For me?"

_"For who you used to be."_

Human, she thought, scared, weak, pitiful. "She's gone. She's been gone since the minute I said yes and was reborn."

_"They are getting close, Hala, Genie of the Lamp. You need to be careful."_

Max smiled. "Where does do we go? When I'm in here?"

_"Hidden, waiting for the right master for you."_

"The other genies…I feel them."

_"They are close. You are all connected."_

My family, Max thought, separated for centuries because of humans. Imprisoned in lamps…forced to serve. Others locked away longer than me...centuries longer. I'm already cruel, Max thought, I like punishing the humans. What will I become? The lovely package hides something dark and twisted…and I like it. "Let them find me. I'm not who they remember."

* * *

To be continued as Max continues her dark turn into a genie


	4. Chapter 4

"Genie!" he yelled, as zombie wife stabbed him and his burned to death corpse of children began eating his legs. "Genie help!"

Murderer, she thought, you burned them alive. You traumatized them. "What is your final wish, Master?"

"A man is the king of his home!" he shouted, throwing the burned zombies off him. "A king, I tell you! I want to be king!"

Max giggled at that. Perfect, she thought, just perfect. "I will miss you, Master. Wish granted."

"What!" he shouted as they were transported to the desert. "What did you do, Genie?"

Max smiled, as she watched her magic take hold of him. "You wanted to be king. I made you king."

He stared at her as fur began to grow over him. With a flick of her wrist he was naked. "Genie, stop it."

"You're not my Master," Max said, feeling the tug to return to her lamp. Thick blonde fur was covering his now swelling hands, as well as his thighs, as his dark hair grew into a brown mane. Smiling she watched as his hands melted into paws, and she easily dodged him lunging at her and falling to the ground, as his legs changed, and body shrank. "You're the king of jungle."

* * *

Fifty years, Kenny thought, looking at the old man in the mirror. Traveling around the world, searching for her. Following her work, the magic no one else knew to look for. Carter died, stabbed in an alley by a man driven mad by genie magic after he saw the sketch of Max. Not Max, it was never Max, whatever that thing in the bottle is not my Max.

I'm going to die alone, no family, broke, body riddled with cancer and she lives forever. I could use a genie.

Max frowned, as she was spun out of her bottle as soon as she returned from her adventure in the desert with the lion. "Yes, Master?"

Kenny stared at her, as he put the lamp down that appeared in his hospital room. "You're real. You're here."

Max smiled at the old man. "You summoned me, Master. I'm here to grant you three wishes."

"I don't need wishes, Max."

As surprised as she could be, the sound of her human name surprising her. "How may I serve you, Master?"

"The Max I knew," he coughed. "Would never call anyone Master or serve them."

The Max you knew is gone, she thought, she's been gone since I said yes. He's dying. "You grew old."

"It's been 50 years, Max. I spent my life trying to find you."

Sparking a missing warmth in her heart. This human. He's good. "I do not need to be saved."

"You're a genie, Max. You can't possibly…I know you fought. I know you held on as long as you could. I'm sorry I couldn't find you sooner."

I didn't, Max thought, I did grant some good wishes, helped people before…it is just so much fun to twist this selfish desire. "Do you wish me to be her for you?"

"You are her. I would know you anywhere. The real you, Max, not…not the genie. I just wanted to see you before I died."

Max looked at him. "Let me serve you. You have three wishes, Master, I can help you."

He intertwined his fingers with hers and looked at her cuffs. "These bind you to your lamp. I researched, Max, I know about you. Genies. I tried to find anything that could free you. You're okay? You look…you look amazing."

"But not like her. Your friend. I'm not her. I'm the Genie of the Lamp."

"Do you have her memories?"

Max smiled and nodded. "She is a part of me. The part that wants to help you, Master. Let her."

Genie, Kenny thought, she's a trickster, a spirit, demon…she's Max in there. I trust Max. "I wanted to save you."

Max smiled and shook her head. "What is your wish, Master?"

"I wish to be healthy and young again, the man you remember."

Max smiled. "Granted."

"Where are we?" Kenny said, turning to looks at her. "Max?"

"You don't need the hospital," she said, gesturing the luxurious apartment they were in. "You are young and healthy, and I provided this new life for you to live. You will want for nothing."

He stared at her, the scantily clad genie, who was messing with is newfound libido. "Is this for real?"

"Do you have a second wish?"

"You gave me my life back, Max. I don't," he said, looking as her lower half dissolved into gold smoke. "Wow."

"Do my looks please you?"

"You know what you look like. You were beautiful before. What can I do, Max? What can I wish for that can," he started. "That can help you."

He wants to save me, Max thought, he'd do anything for her. He could replace me, then I could never find the other genies. Smiling at him. "I want for nothing. It's my duty to serve."

"Anything, Max. Anything you miss from being human."

Cold and heartless, she thought, reveling in ruining humans through their selfish desires. Seducing them with this body, I see it in his eyes, he's very attracted to me. "I've never seen my lamp, I'm always in it."

"Really?" he asked. "That's what you want."

"I can summon anything I desire inside it, except that."

Kenny smiled at her. A genie, she really is a genie, floating now, cross-legged in the air. I can make her look like my Max again, have her stay with me. She doesn't have to leave. We can be together. "It's…that's it."

Max stared at it, as it's golden sheen matched her cuffs. The evidence room, she thought, it drew me to it, and it changed me. It didn't hurt, it was a…seduction…becoming a genie. I love being a genie, except for being imprisoned. "It's lovely."

Kenny stared at her before picking it up. "You really live in this?"

She nodded. "Until a master finds me."

"Max?" he asked, seeing her rapture looking at it. The key, he thought, to freeing her without taking her place. "What would happen if we destroyed it?"

She looked up. "Destroy my lamp?"

"What would happen to you?"

"It cannot be destroyed. So many genies are locked away, their lamps buried. You cannot destroy us."

"I don't want to destroy you. You saved me. You did this," Kenny said. "I'd do anything to save you, Max."

Not Max, she thought, not really. "I do not need to be saved."

"And if someone buries this? You just exist in it?"

Max smiled at him. "It is my home."

He turned it over in his hands as it shone like her wrist cuffs. "Forged from the same gold, binding your lamp and you."

She held his gaze, her emerald eyes boring into his. Give it to me, she thought, I saved you, give me my lamp. Breathing a bit of gold smoke in his mouth, she saw his will wilting. "Kenny? It's me. Max."

His vision blurred, as the genie dissolved into his best friend. "Max?"

"You saved me. I knew you would save me," she whispered. "We're together like we should have been."

"Max," he gasped, as she laid her hands on top of his. "I saved you."

"Let me take that. We can be together if I have that," she whispered in his ear and he wordlessly passed her the lamp and she laughed as she clutched it in her hands. "Thank you, Master."

"Max?" he asked, as his vision clear and he saw nothing but the genie again. "What?"

She smiled at him, as the lamp and her cuffs glowed. "All your research didn't tell you?"

"Max?" he pushed, as the gold cuffs fell to the floor and disintegrated, followed by her lamp. "What are you doing? What's happening?"

She flicked her wrist, tossing him on the couch. "I'm free."

"Free?"

Max looked at him, toying with her plans. Useful, he has been very useful. I'm free, Kenny. You are giving me my lamp freed me."

"Max?" He asked, hesitantly stroking her cheek as she stood there, still in gauzy clothes looking very much like a genie. "You look…Are you sure?"

She smiled slowly at him, before flicking her wrist and causing him to land on the couch. "You unbound me from that lamp."

"Max?" he asked, as she held him down with her magic. "Max, what is happening?"

"These clothes are such a cliché," she sighed. "Such a male fantasy of what I am."

"Max?"

She ignored him as her gauzy outfit transformed into tight jeans, a ripped t-shirt, leather jacket and steel-toed boots. Shaking her head, her red and gold curls slicked back into a sleek ponytail. "Much better."

Kenny stared at her. "What's happening to you?"

"Only what I want to happen now," Max said. "I serve no master now."

"You're still…I thought I freed you."

Max laughed. "Oh, I'm very much a genie, Kenny. Just unbound. Free. Because of that…Hmm."

"What are you doing?"

"I can have you trying to save me," she said. "You're young and healthy, Kenny, and immortal. You're going to live forever now…and you better comfortable because you're going to have to have sex every eight hours unless you want to turn into the dog that you are."

"Max?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You used women," she said. "A new one every night. They're going to use you now. Try to escape? Dog. Enjoy your new life, Kenny."

"Max!" he shouted, as she puffed out in smoke. "Max get back here!"

* * *

To be continued


	5. Chapter 5

Max smiled as she sat on the patio of her new penthouse, drinking champagne, looking out at the world below. Flexing her feet, enjoying the night air on her skin. Free, she thought, free to do anything. Flicking her wrist, she snuggled into the fuzzy blanket. I'm going to find my family, she thought, all the genies will be free.

* * *

Kenny lay there, unable to move as the bevy of women left again. I'll kill her, he thought, I swear to god I'll kill that thing for this. That isn't Max, that thing killed her. I can't move, three months of constant sex… "Max!"

She ignored Kenny's call. He used women and now it's his turn, she thought, although his research on genies is quite thorough. He never found any, beside his dying desire to see me. Her. What did he see in her? An unremarkable human. All of us, hidden, Max thought. Him, she thought, the one who transformed me? Find them, free them…find him.

"Well, well," he smiled, looking at the swirl of golden smoke. "Look at you, Genie."

Max stared at him. "You remember me?"

"I did prefer you in the genie outfit I left you in," he said, looking at her leather jacket and boots. "But this has an appeal too, Genie. Your master let you out?"

She held up her wrists. "I don't have a master."

"Unbound?" he said. "How did a new genie like you manage that?"

"Humans are weak. Isn't that how I succumbed to you?"

"You were a delight. I enjoyed making you. Unbound?" he said. "I'll give you some advice, Genie. You've granted some serious wishes, believe me I noticed and now you're unbound. They will hunt for you and try to rebind you."

"Who?" Max asked.

"The ones who bound us in the first place," he said.

"I want to free the genies…I want to unbind them all."

"Oh, you wicked little thing," he smiled. "You can't find the others."

"Of course, I can."

He smiled and shook his head. "Only humans can find your kind and free them. You cannot see other vessels that contain genies. I had to wait for a human to free me…like you so kindly did."

"How?"

"You need not draw attention to yourself, Genie," he smiled. "They will come after you. You can live out your immortal existence in peace. You're not bound to grant wishes or use your powers. You can live many lives, over and over, stay off their radar unless you want to go back in a lamp."

"How haven't you aged?"

"Ah, Genie. I got free but I'm still immortal. I want to rest but I cannot die. I've tried to die."

Max looked at him. "What if you wished it?"

"Ah, I'm not falling for that. I was a genie; I know what you're capable of."

"You made me this way."

"No, I made you a genie. What you chose to do is on you. And we are alike, we all like make humans twist. Go, Genie. Heed my advice. When you see yellow roses, when the leaves blow by in a curl or you here the call of birds when there are none, they are near."

Max felt a chill with that. "I'm supposed to hide. How is that different than the lamp?"

"You have the world, Genie. The world I took from you. Go forth. Live."

* * *

"She is a naughty a genie."

Kenny lay here spent. "Who are you?"

"One that shouldn't be free. Foolish, freeing her," he said. "We can undo what she did, if you agree to help us find her."

"What are you?"

"We hunt creatures like her. She needs to be put in her lamp and with the others."

Not Max, Kenny thought, she used me… "Oh, I know. I'll join you."

"So, it will be," he said, placing his hand on Kenny's chest, infusing with the skills of their clan and removing Max's spell on him. "Come, Warrior."

Kenny rose from the bed, feeling alive for the first tie in 20 years. Genie, he thought, you will be mine.

* * *

"What are they? What are you?"

"You are a persistent little genie," he said. "I knew you were different. Only 50 years in the lamp? There are genies in there for 1000's of years, and you got out. Come. Sit."

"Who are you?"

"I was a god, a Genie, who fell in love with a mortal. I killed her," he said. "Oh, no on purpose, but when she died when we made love. My punishment? I was turned into a genie, put in the lamp."

Max looked at him. "And the others?"

"There are only 12 of you, 11 more locked away. Genies are being punished for misdeeds until they can find a suitable replacement or find some naïve human to unbind them. You," he smiled. "You did very well."

"I need a human to find them. To see their vessels."

"Don't be as naive as the humans. They will come after you, Genie."

"Who? What with roses and leaves?"

"Do you want to go back in your lamp?" he pressed. "Serving masters? You were very fetching in your genie outfits."

Max glared at him. "I'm not going back in the lamp. You were in one. How can I leave them in them? How can you?"

"I passed my curse to you, Genie. You are the one they hunt," he smiled. "They are called the Surds. They bound all sort of magical creatures, suppressing their powers. Binding them. They track magic, Genie, they were looking for your lamp after wish you granted. It's how they found others. I'm sure there are lamps in private collections, museums, but they have some too. They will file you away, you will never get out again if they find you. Look for the signs, vanish when they show. Live your life, your very long life, Genie. Don't come back here."

* * *

"The genie is inactive."

No, Kenny thought, no. "She's out there. She's going to destroy the world."

"I know you have a vested interest in the genie," he said. "She will show. She cannot help what she is now. She will make herself known to us again."

Nothing but time, Kenny thought, nothing but time to destroy her for this. "The siren then?"

He looked at the sea creature on the rocks. "Your turn."

Kenny smiled, bathing the siren in the black smoke pouring out of him. Smiling as the screaming siren turned into nothing more than a fish on the rocks. "There."

* * *

Max floated in a plume of golden smoke through the museum, watching the class of school children. They see it, she thought, what I can't. Another vessel. The Surds must know too, I can't let them lock another away. Oh…yellow roses blowing in the wind, she thought, I've seen them so many times. Float here.

"It's pretty."

Max kept her eye on the blonde girl. I know that look. That's how I felt when I saw the lamp before I became a genie. Rapture. Oh, what the sweet hell?

"Hello, class," Kenny said. "Welcome to our museum."

Surd, Max thought, her temper flaring in her smoke. The Surds took him? He's supposed to be having sex…Oh, I feel his hate. His hate is almost as strong as his love for her. Oh, I'll punish him too, we have eternity, Kenny. Let's play.

* * *

TBC as Max continues her quest to free her genie family and Kenny and the Surds hunt her


	6. Chapter 6

Surd, Max thought, looking at Kenny leading the tour. He knew a genie lamp was here, they knew I would come. All these years later, me and Kenny. He always wants to save me. Sending a puff of golden smoke into the girl staring at the lamp she couldn't see. Be mine, she thought, don't listen to him…seeing the girl's eyes flash gold for a moment and settle back down. Seeing her melt back from the cloud, Max kept her hold on her.

* * *

I feel her, Kenny thought, she's here…she's after that lamp. Get the genie, put her back where she belongs. She should have vanished, but no she was always stubborn and determined. Not evil, Kenny thought, just a genie. Just what she is…Come to me, Genie.

* * *

_"Ssh," Max whispered in her mind. "Come to me."_

The girl looked at her. "You're pretty."

_"So are you."_

"Are you a fairy?"

Max smiled at her, all dressed in her gauzy clothes, looking very much like she did in her lamp. _"No…I'm a genie, Kaitlyn."_

"A real genie?"

_"Yes. I need your help. Can you help me?"_

"Yes."

Max stroked her hair in her dream. The missing girl from the field trip, safe with me in my mist, I feel the Surds down there in the shadows, watching that lamp. Smiling, she cast her magic into another room, bringing the dinosaurs to life. Go, she thought, go. The genie is causing trouble. Or maybe a witch or a fairy, you collectors and killers of magic. Surds…_"See? The bad men are going. They won't hurt you."_

"Will they hurt you?"

_"No," Max said, as Kaitlyn picked up the lamp and she pulled her back into her warming mist. The lamp I can't see…my sister genie. Smiling, she swirled them away._

* * *

Kenny and the Surds looked at the vibrating bones of the come to live dinosaurs that they burned and the mummies that came from the tombs. "Genie magic."

"The lamp. One genie could not," he said. "Go, go now!"

"There you go," Max whispered, her body tingling in anticipation. "Help her."

Kaitlyn looked at her, as she rubbed the lamp and the glowing mist came pouring out. "Oh."

She rematerialized in front of them, Max smiling to herself as she and the other genie looked at each other. Freedom, free them all.

"You're a genie too," Kaitlyn said. "Like Hala."

The other genie looked at Max and back at the girl. "Yes, Mistress. You have my lamp."

"Hala said I could save you."

The other genie smiled. "You are unbound."

"Can I be a genie?" Kaitlyn asked. "Is that something I can ask for?"

"You may wish for anything you choose, Mistress."

"Remember?" Max said. "How we can help her? How we can help all the genies?"

Kaitlyn nodded and held out her lamp. "You can have this, Genie. I don't want to hurt you."

She smiled and cradled her lamp to her chest. "My lamp…"

Max stroked Kaitlyn's hair as she became unbound and solid in the world again. "What?"

She laughed, as she watched Kaitlyn freeze and crumble to dust. "Oh, like you didn't know? You're unbound, Sister."

Max was as shocked as a genie could be at the pile of dust. "He didn't…not when he gave me my lamp."

She giggled and hugged her. "Unbound, free. What fun we will have."

I made him immortal, Max thought, looking at the Kaitlyn dust pile, that's why…a dead human. "She was a child."

"Who you used to free me," she said. "It's been 1000 years since I've been out of that lamp…freedom."

Max looked at her. A child. She thought she was helping me…saving us. "They die if they free us."

"You are unbound, you knew."

Ten more, Max thought, can I really free 10 more? Humans they… "She thought I was a fairy."

She laughed. "We are going to have so much fun, Sister. Forget this. Come with me."

Max looked at the Kaitlyn dust. A sweet child…she wanted to help. "They're coming."

"Go," she said, as they swirled away together. "See you soon."

* * *

"I want to have fun," she smiled, twirling naked around Max's living room. "A new genie…you naughty thing"

A child, Max thought…that's on me. I made Kenny immortal that's why…she wanted to help the pretty and sad genie. "He loved me when I was human. He thought I was still her."

"You lost your humanity the moment you became a genie."

I did, Max thought, I did embrace this. "He didn't know that. He saw me as Max, his friend, he wanted me to be her."

"I like your outfit, Max," she said, looking at her tight jeans and slouchy t-shirt. "Much better than what we wore in our lamps."

"A male fantasy. They touched me all the time. The rest, Araya, I want to save to the other 10."

"The Surds…they gathered many of us. They cannot destroy our lamps or us, all they do is hide us away."

"Help me."

"I'm not going back in the lamp. It's where you will end up if you try this again. Be free."

"I freed you."

"And we were almost caught. I am not going back in that lamp, Hala," Araya said. "You were in there for a blink of an eye. You are very clever escaping and freeing me. Oh, Hala, we could have so much fun together."

Max smiled as Araya kissed her for a long moment. "I need to have some fun."

"So much fun, Hala."

Hala, Max thought. "We need to get you out of this ridiculous outfit. We're a couple of very modern genies now."

Araya giggled, stroking her cheek. "You're a wicked genie, Hala."

"Oh," Max laughed, as Araya stood naked in her arms. "I like you like this."

"And you like this," Araya said as Max was naked too. "Let me show you what genies can really do, Hala."

Max nodded, as she kissed her again. "Show me."

Max giggled, as she lay wrapped around her genie lover. "That's how he changed me. Sex."

"Silly human," Araya sighed. "That's your story? You were seduced by a genie."

Max stretched out in bed. "He's still alive. Immortal."

"You let him live?"

Max sighed as Araya bathed her nipples with her tongue. "He did warn me about the Surds."

"And he made you delicious," Araya sighed, straddling her. "Hala…"

Max groaned. I remember how I felt with him, how my body and mind changed, how I felt the magic in me, how I became a genie. "He did make me very sexy and beautiful…and young."

"You are lovely, Hala."

Max rolled over and kissed her. "You are fun, Araya."

They intertwined their fingers and smiled at each other. "What should we do first, Hala?"

* * *

Max, Kenny thought, as they stood over the pile of Kaitlyn dust. She isn't Max. My Max cared, she's been a genie for 100 years, she's nothing but a genie. I'm going to be that way too, a Surd, hunting her and others like her. We have forever, Max, I will find you and punish you. You can't hide forever.

* * *

Max smiled, smoothing Araya's hair. "There. Do you like it?"

Araya kissed her before looking back in the mirror. "We are a very desirable pair, Hala."

Max wrapped her arms around her waist and looked at her reflection. This hair, she thought, liking her fiery red mane and how it accented her golden skin and green eyes. Enjoying her curvy body in her green dress and gold heels. Free. "I'll show you this world, Araya."

"Let's find some humans to play with. I really want to play, Hala."


	7. Chapter 7

"Hmm, are you sure?" Max asked, stroking his cheek in the club. "That's your wish?"

He nodded, drinking in the sexy woman wrapped around him. "You're going to grant my wishes?"

Max kissed him, enjoying his hands on her. "Anything you want. I'm yours right now."

"God, you're hot."

"I am," she smiled, tossing her hair back. "Come home with me. Let me make your fantasies come true."

"I don't even know your name."

"Do you need to?"

He shook his head, as she kissed him again and draped herself around him. "I think I love you."

He can't love me, Max thought. I'm just a genie. It's my body, face, the magic, that I ooze sex. "You'll love me after tonight."

He kissed her again, as she giggled. "Come with me."

He stared at her, as she led him out of the club. Hot, he thought, very hot. How did I rank this sexy piece of ass? He smiled as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again before they both swirled out in a plume of smoke together.

"What the hell?" he gasped, as he pushed away from her. "What was that? Where are we?"

Max twirled her hair around her finger. "Careful, Mark."

He froze, teetering on the edge of her balcony. Crouching down, he screamed, as he fell into the infinity pool that looked over the city. "What?"

"Oh," she laughed. "Look at you."

He stared at her as she made her dress vanish and waded in the pool next to him. "Why don't we get comfortable?"

"What the hell are you?"

"You wished me to be your pet?" Max smiled. "I saw what you did women, how you abuse them, how you killed them…is that what you planned for me?"

"What?"

"You wished for power and money and fame," Max smiled. "You should have wished to not get caught, Mark."

"What?"

Max stroked his cheek. "I'm a genie and you are my favorite type. Granted."

"A genie?"

She let herself dissolve into smoke and reappear dressed and dry on the pool edge. "A genie."

"You aren't a genie. You didn't come out of a lamp."

She smiled at that. "No lamp can hold me or my friend now. Hmm."

He screamed, as he noticed the breasts growing out of his chest and the white-blonde hair spilling down his back. "Stop!"

"You murdered and hurt women."

"No!"

"You make a lovely woman," Max smiled, looking at the naked blonde in her pool. "Very lovely."

"Change me back!"

"Oh, you don't want that," Max sighed. "Th FBI is raiding your home, they found your collection. They're looking for you, Mark…Oh, that doesn't suit you anymore. They won't find you like this, your victims won't get justice."

"What did you do to me?"

"You're going to be punished."

"What?" Mark said as she floated him out of the pool and clothed him in a golden bikini and flicked her wrist to style her platinum hair. "What?"

Max clapped and laughed in delight. "You look perfect!"

"What?"

"For my friend. You are going to be his thrall."

"What?"

"A thrall. A sex slave," Max smiled. "I'm sure he'll make some modifications himself. Good-bye Mark."

* * *

"Wicked," Araya sighed. "What wicked little genie you are."

"He hurt women. He'll see what it's like now," Max said. "I gave him a very nice, very genie-like, harem outfit to wear."

"And his master?"

Max shrugged. "I can take care of him too. I freed his other thralls and replaced them with these bad men. They are all very successful in their new lives."

Araya sighed, kissing her again. "It's a lot of magic, Hala."

"I saw the roses. Surds are here," Max said. "We should go."

"I like it here."

"Me too," Max sighed. "To our next home?"

* * *

"She was here. I smell her," Kenny said. "Disgusting genie stench. Both of them."

Grant nodded. "Genies can't stay away from each other. The play together…it will distract them both."

"They still sense us."

"We set the trap. She won't be able to help herself if she senses one."

Kenny smiled. Come to me, Genie.

* * *

Max paused. "It's too easy. A lamp just appearing."

Araya looked at Max pacing naked through their cliffside home. "You think it's the Surds."

"I know it is."

"Then we don't go after it, Hala."

"We have to. They belong with us."

"I'm happy with you."

Max smiled as her genie sister kissed her. "We belong together. All 12 of us."

"Hala," she sighed. "I still smell the humanity in you sometimes. Even when you are being naughty and wicked…You punish only bad humans."

"I'm not human."

"Certainly not," Araya smiled. "You're my sexy lover. You freed me, Hala."

Hala, Max thought, I am Hala now. "And we can free another. We know it's a trap, so lets trap them."

"They can smell us. They'll know we're genies."

Max smiled back at her. "We will free them all. Listen."

* * *

Genie, Kenny thought, come to me Genie. He let his mind drift, remembering the two of them as humans. She fell into that genie's arms, she didn't hesitate…that's what genies do. She's a wicked little thing now. She isn't Max, she doesn't look like her, doesn't act like her, she was Max once, but she let herself become a genie. She could have fought it. All these creatures, nothing but blights. Come Genie, don't fight me.

* * *

"You want to stay with us?" Max smiled, stroking her hair. "You like us?"

Dana nodded. "You're both so pretty."

Araya smiled at Max, as she kissed Dana. "So are you. You can stay with us. Do you want to be like us?"

Dana nodded, as slipped her hand up her dress. "Oh…"

"Look at me," Max smiled. "You're going to help us, Dana. You need to repeat what I'm going to say."

Dana nodded, as she felt herself melting their attention. "Yes. Of course yes, Mistress."

"I wish to be irresistible to Surds," Max said, breathing some gold smoke into her mouth.

"I wish to be irresistible to Surds."

"Granted," Max smiled, as Dana began to reshape on the couch. "You were right, Araya, she is perfect."

"This is what you looked like as a human?" Araya asked, looking at the passed out woman on the couch. "I would have liked you then, Hala."

Max looked at Dana for a moment. "I was cute. She'll sleep a bit."

Araya smiled. "I'm looking forward to bringing our next member home to us."

Max smiled back at her. "Me too. Come here, Love."

* * *

"Hello Kenny."

He turned and stared. Not her. Of course it's not her. "Genie."

Dana smiled and shook her head. "The genie freed me from her."

"You're a liar, Genie."

"You know what genies smell like, feel like," Dana said. "I'm not a genie, Kenny."

"You know my name."

Dana smiled. "Of course I do. You were my best friend. I saved myself this time."

Not the genie. "Where is the genie?"

"I don't know. I wanted to get away from her. She's…she's evil. Come with me. I don't want to be around this anymore. I just want you."

"How did you find me?"

"She knew. She's coming."

"Max…"

She kissed him. "I've always loved you."

"You are not Max."

"Of course I'm Max."

"No, you smell like genie magic."

"No!" Dana screamed, as Kenny held the sword to her neck. "Help!"

"Where is the genie?"

"No, they love me. They chose me."

"She's incapable of that. She's a monster. Take this one," Kenny said, directing the other Surds. "She could be very useful."

"I'm Max!" Dana screamed. "Kenny! I'm Max! Don't!"

* * *

"Silly girl," Max sighed, watching the Surds surround her as she looked at the empty pedestal. Can't see the lamps, she thought, how ironic. It's like they don't trust us. Kenny did care about her. Me. If we could go back…what a wish that would be. Who would I be? Dead. Forgotten. This is fun. Immortal, magical, beautiful, with my new lover. Watching as Dana dissolved in front of them. Fake Dana, Max thought, invisible Dana taking the lamp as the Surds panicked again. Silly Surds.

"You are so sweet," Max said, stroking her cheek. "It's beautiful."

Dana looked at the lamp in her hands and back at them. "Are you really genies?"

Max smiled. "We are. We just want to find our families again. Will you help us some more, Dana? Can you rub the lamp?"

"Oh," Dana said, as the smoke poured out. "Genies…"

Araya clapped in delight. "Oh."

He smiled, looking at them as he solidified out of blue smoke. "Well…"

"You're a genie," Dana breathed. "I'm your master."

He looked at her and smiled slowly. "And very sexy mistress you are. What is your first wish?"

Dana looked at Max and Araya and smiled. "I want to stay with my genie lovers."

"That isn't a wish," Max smiled. "We want you to stay, Dana. We like playing with you."

She nodded. "You're all genies."

Araya kissed her cheek. "She's a good pet."

"A shame to lose her," Max smiled, looking at the male genie. "Do you want to help us Dana?"

"Very much."

"Give him his lamp. Free him…you will stay with us forever if you do."

Dana turned it over in her hands. "It's so pretty. My only wish is to stay with you."

"Granted," Max whispered, nipping at her jawline. "Free him."

"I wish to be a genie after I free him."

"Granted," he said, as he handed him the lamp and his mist surrounded them both.


	8. Chapter 8

"A genie for genies," Tando said. "For us."

"For us?" Araya asked, looking at a scantily clad Dana, her legs nothing but a smoke tail and how he bound her to a bottle with it. "Very nice."

Free the genies, Max thought, instead we made more. We can free her too."

"What?" Dana asked, looking at the three of them. "What did you do to me?"

"You're a genie," Max said. "You're going to help us, and then you'll be free too."

"But…I'm attached to a bottle."

"Like we once were," Araya said. "She's very sexy in that outfit."

Max smiled, looking at the harem pants and bra. Like I used to wear in my bottle, the fantasy of a genie humans have. "She is…Hmm."

"She has no tricks. She is loyal to us. Right, Dana?" Tando said.

"Yes, I'm one of you."

He wrapped his arms around Max and Araya. "Well then. Bring us the other nine lamps of our family and make them visible to us."

"Yes Master."

"Oh," Max said, as the row of golden lamps appeared. Feeling herself warm inside at them, she broke into a grin. Our family…my real family. "They're home."

Araya kissed her cheek. "All of us, Hala."

Hala, Max thought again, I became her the moment I turned into a genie, even if I tried to cling to my humanity a bit. Smiling, she kissed Araya on the lips.

"Oh, we're going to have fun," Max said. "Release them from their bonds their bonds, Genie."

Dana nodded, as the genies came pouring out of the lamps. "Yes Masters."

* * *

"She's doing something," Kenny said. "Magic, it's very strong magic."

"We know where they are now. Come. They'll never leave their lamps again."

* * *

Max smiled, looking at her genie family. We are all here. We are together…Where I belong. Lying on the couch with two of her new genie sisters. Kissing them, their hands roaming everywhere. Wait… "They're coming."

Kaya smiled, kissing her again. "Oh, Hala."

Max sat up. "Surds. They are here! Dana, do it now."

She wanted to be one of us, Max thought, we will unbind her too. She did trust me, love me…Humans and genies. She is one of us now.

Kenny stared at her, his heart aching a bit at his lost friend. Not Max, she would have hated what she became. It is just her body, she's evil. A demon now. She saved me…

"Granted," Dana said, as the Surds dissolved into smoke and were pulled into their lamps. "Oh."

Max looked at a disappearing Kenny, a pain in heart surprising her a bit. We chose our paths; it could only end one way. "Good-bye."

"I'll find you!" he yelled, as he vanished into the lamp.

Max laughed, as Dana was freed. "Thirteen of us now."

* * *

**2500 Years Later**

Max floated in her cloud of smoke, drifting over the deserted beach. The world is healing, she thought, humans destroyed each other, they always do. The virus wiped out 99%, the virus that one man wished for, that silly Dana gave to him…the other 1% in small groups. Will they come back? The earth is healing, creatures like us are returning. Genies, fairies, elves, the magic of before humans. It can be different this time.

Letting herself become solid again, she wiggled her toes in the sand. Earth…

"Hala."

She smiled and turned to look at the man who made her a genie. "You know my name."

"They genie who freed them all. Where are the others?"

She gestured to the clouds. "Humans aren't much fun to play with these days. We just exist up there. Waiting. Planning."

He nodded. "I knew you were special."

"I wanted a change. I would not have ever said no to you. I love being a genie."

"Even with this? Humanity gone?"

"It can be different this time."

"Will it?"

Max looked at the deserted earth. "Humans need a push to be better."

"Can they be better?"

"The same choices, the same wars, over and over," Max trailed off. "Humans are selfish, cowardly, they relish in their desires…it's why they call for genies. They want what they want, it doesn't matter what anyone else does."

"That is the real curse, Hala. We're all trapped."

I remember not being Hala, when I was human, she thought, when I was just trying to do the best I could. Before magic, before I became Hala. I hurt humans, not all, but many. "Humans will die out."

"Maybe."

"Then we'll have no purpose."

"Well, Hala, what are you going to do then?"

* * *

This lamp, Kenny thought, how long have I been here for? Since she changed me…not a genie, a Surd trapped in this barren prison. I will find her again. I will kill her.

* * *

Smoke, we are all smoke, Max thought, our minds drifting here. Only 1,000 humans on the planet… _"The earth is healing."_

_ "They'll destroy it again."_

_ "Humans are fun to play with. Who will we play with?"_

_ "We could keep a few."_

Max listened and sighed as only smoke can. _"What if we bring them back? Rebuild their society? Make it better."_

_ "Control them."_

_ "Like they wanted to control us."_

* * *

"Hala."

"This is our world now," Max said.

"Why are you sad then?"

She smiled, lost in her own thoughts. "Were you always a genie?"

"You're what? 3000 years old?"

Max nodded. "Give or take."

"I'm over 7000. I was an alchemist's pupil…I abused my powers," he said. "I was one of the first, Hala."

She nodded. Genie…who would I be I was human? Dead, long forgotten, who would I have been? That scared and unsure woman…who very willingly let herself be changed. "Do you remember your human life?"

"Very much. I don't dwell. I'd be dust, as would you."

Max nodded. "I just wonder who I would be. I love being a genie."

"Come," he said, taking her hands his. "Come with me now."

Max smiled as she let herself dissolve and fly with him.

* * *

Max walked through the island of humans, scared and alone, she thought, all brought here by us. Oh, look at them. Look at us…all 13 of us.

"You know the rules."

"We'll be watching you."

Max listened to her fellow genies. The population of 10,000, she thought, banished to this one island, where they'll say. They'll be transformed if they try to leave, they'll have unlimited resources, want for nothing…controlled.

"This isn't fair!" one shouted.

Hano flicked his wrist, turning him into what looked like a ball of light, but what Max knew was really sprite now. "Humans destroy everything. This is your home now."

* * *

Max sat on the beach, listening to the humans around her. Even after 3000 years…with all the bad I've done…fix the world.

"You're a genie."

Max looked up at the little blonde girl. "Do you like your new home?"

"Mommy said you were evil."

"Maybe," Max said. "Do you think I'm evil?"

"You're pretty."

I am, Max thought, a very pretty genie… "So are you."

"I wish genies weren't real."

Max looked at her, feeling the familiar pull, not real. If I never became a genie…If none of us did? "That's a big wish."

"Then I could be home. Not here."

If I never became a genie, Max thought, Dana wouldn't have, the virus…it's a lot of what-ifs, Hala. Can I go back? Can I redo this? "Is that what you want?"

She nodded. "Yes, Genie."

Max smiled and stroked her hair. Selfish desires, she wants it for her, but…she wants the world better. "Wish that I never became a genie."

"What?"

Max nodded. "Do it."

* * *

**Rome**

"Max, hold up."

She turned and looked at Kenny. "I'm supposed to catalog the evidence."

"Thompson is."

"Are you okay?"

He stared at her, a little unsure of what he was feeling. Don't let her go. Don't lose her this time. "I'm off duty. Let's get a beer."

"Sure."

"Not a just a beer, Max," he said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her. "Never just a beer."

She kissed him back, a little unsure of what she was doing and feeling with him. "Kenny?"

"I love you," he said. "I'm not losing you this time."

"This time?"

"Any time," he said, knowing she couldn't go in that room. "Look at me. Come with me, Max."

She nodded, kissing him back. "I'd go anywhere with you. I love you too. I've always loved you."

"Good," he said. "Come on. Let's go home together."

* * *

**Then End**


End file.
